Marching Band Love Triangle
by ten-rsax
Summary: Marching band camp, a love triange, a tragedy and a new marching show. Based on some things that happened in my band.
1. Band Camp and Intros

A/N: This is my first fan fic. I hope everyone likes it. Right now it's kind of boring, but you have to get intros out of the way. Most of the characters are based on people in band with me, especially the drum major Nick. You'll get to see some of his weirdness in later chapters. Please review and enjoy!!

Introductions

Kelcey Jensen - 20, percussionist, snare captain - Junior

Nick Gurney - 24, drum major, percussionist - Senior

Josh Walker - 21, tenor saxophone - Junior

Ashley Walker - 19, flute, Josh's sister - Sophomore

Tyler Anderson - 23, drum major, trumpet - Senior

Tiffany Anderson - 20, flute, Tyler's sister - Junior

Jordan Kelly - 21, percussionist, snare - Sophomore

Rachel Turner - 18, flute/saxophone - Freshman  
  


Chapter 1 - Band Camp  
  


~Kelcey 8:00 am Monday  
  


Kelcey quickly tied her shoes, grabbed her drum sticks and ran out the door. She knew she couldn't be late the first day of band camp. Nick would kill her, he didn't make her snare captain this year by accident.

She quickly drove to the campus and she realized that she was excited for band camp. There was something about meeting new people and rehearsing before school even started. It was so different from rehearsals after the season started. Even though everyone always complained and it was always too hot, she still loved it. She was disappointed that Nick wouldn't be on snare line with her though. Last year they really pushed each other to do better and now he was deserting her. But he would be a good drum major.

Kelcey parked her car and ran through the music building to the band room. She quickly looked around, but didn't see Nick anywhere. She did see Tyler though. He was glaring at her and quickly walking her way.

"Where have you been?" Tyler yelled. The room instantly quieted down. "Did you forget that section leaders were supposed to be here at 8:00? Obviously you did since it's 8:15."

Kelcey opened her mouth to say something, but she wasn't sure what.

"Lay off Tyler," a voice echoed through the quiet room. Kelcey turned to see Nick standing in the door way. He walked over to the two. "I'm sure Kel has a perfectly good reason for being late. Don't you Kel?"

"Umm," Kelcey started. "I was, well.. I-"

"Never mind. Come meet the new member of your section."

Kelcey watched Tyler storm out of the room, and then realized that conversation was slowly going back to normal.

"You know," Kelcey whispered to Nick. "I always forget that Tyler's such a control freak during band camp."

"Band camp? I thought he was a control freak all the time." They both started laughing.  
  


~Jordan 8:15 am  
  


"That's our snare captain," a voice behind Jordan said. He turned and tried to remember the guy's name. He couldn't remember but turned again to see where he was pointing.

"I don't see him," Jordan said looking around. He saw Nick, but he was the drum major.

"First of all it's she. And she's the one being yelled at."

"You've got to be kidding me! A girl?" Jordan was shocked, and disappointed.

"Hey, give Kel some credit. She's an amazing percussionist. You should hear her on marimba." Jordan just shook his head as the guy walked off.

Jordan turned back to watch Kelcey. She was actually pretty good looking. She had to be at least 5'5" maybe taller. Her light brown hair had hints of blonde highlights and was cut just below her shoulders. That was all Jordan could tell because she was pretty far away. He turned to get the snare music and when he looked up he saw Kelcey and Nick walking towards him and laughing. They both stopped in front of Jordan with a snare between them.

"Hey Jordan," Nick said. "This is Kelcey, or Kel, and she's going to be the snare captain for marching band. And Kel, this is Jordan. He went to a community college before coming here, and he hasn't marched since high school."

"It's nice to meet you," Jordan said holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Kelcey said taking his hand.

Jordan realized that she was a lot taller than he originally thought. She had to be about 5'7" and she had the most amazing blue eyes he had ever seen. Jordan finally realized that he was still holding Kelcey's hand he quickly let it go.

"I'll leave you two to get to know each other," Nick said walking away.

"So," Jordan said slowly. "Do you want to look at the music?"

"No way," Kelcey said laughing. "It's way too early to even think about music."

"Yeah, okay."

"Well it was nice to meet you. I'll see you in awhile, okay?"

"Yeah," Jordan said thinking he should come up with something more intelligent to say. He watched Kelcey run over to a group of five people, two guys and three girls. He shook his head again then sat on the floor to start working out some of the cadences.  
  


~Nick 8:10 am  
  


"Tiffany, have you seen Kel?" Nick asked running over to Kelcey's best friend.

"No, not yet. Calm down she'll be here."

"Yeah, I know." Nick started to walk away.

"Nick!" Tiffany yelled. He turned back. "She just walked into the band room."

"Hey, thanks." Nick said walking to the door. He opened it just in time to see Tyler start yelling at Kelcey.

Nick saved Kelcey from Tyler and knew that he was going to be mad. He lead Kelcey over to Jordan and thought about something to talk about.

"You know," Kelcey said breaking the silence between them. "I always forget that Tyler's such a control freak during band camp."

"Band camp? I thought he was a control freak all the time." They both started laughing.

"So how was your summer?" Kelcey asked.

"Pretty boring. I mostly just worked."

"Why didn't you ever call me? We could have hung out or something."

"Really. I kind of thought. Never mind."

"Kind of thought what?"

"Forget about it."

"Come on tell me."

"Maybe later." They had finally gotten over to Jordan and Nick couldn't have been happier. "Hey Jordan."

Nick left Kelcey and Jordan and decided that he better get things started. He blew a whistle and saw everyone slowly turn to him. Tyler walked up next to him.

"Hey everyone. Welcome to the first day of band camp." Nick smiled and looked around, but saw very few others who were as excited as him. Kelcey being one of them who was excited. "In case you don't know yet we're going to be your drum majors this year. I'm Nick Gurney and this is Tyler Anderson."

Tyler took over and quickly introduced all of the section leaders and then told everyone to meet outside in a parade block to march to the practice field.  
  


~Kelcey 8:30am  
  


"I don't see how you can be smiling," Tiffany said. Kelcey just smiled and walked away from Tiffany. "Oh wait. I know why you're so happy. You get to see Nick again."

"Nick and I are just friends," Kelcey said defending herself for the billionth time.

"Yeah, sure whatever you say." Tiffany elbowed Kelcey in the ribs and Kelcey smacked her in her warm with her sticks.

"We go over this all the time. Can't you just drop it for once?"

"Not if it's true," Tiffany said laughing.

"Stop it. We're just friends, and I would appreciate it if you could remember that."

Kelcey took her spot in the middle of the band and wondered why Tiffany was bringing everything about Nick up again. She vaguely heard Tyler call the band to attention and she heard the call for forward march, but she wasn't really paying attention.

"...some clicks?" a voice next to her said. She turned and was startled to see Nick marching next to her. She quickly look away and went back to attention.

"Sorry, what did you say?" she asked hoping it wasn't some sort of trick.

"I just asked if you could give us some clicks."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I totally forgot that it was my job."

"That's okay. I'll let it go this time."

Kelcey smiled at him then began the simple left, left left right left click. She felt so stupid for forgetting she was in charge of clicks. They finally got to the practice field and realized that it really didn't matter since it was just the first day.


	2. The Drum Off

The Drum Off  
  
~Jordan 1:15pm  


"Umm, Kelcey," Jordan said walking over to Kelcey. "Did you look at this soli part?" He handed her a copy of the music.

"Yeah, what about it?" Kelcey asked slowly taking it from him.

"Well, we were just wondering who you wanted on each part."

"Oh, right. Which part do you want to play?"

"Whichever you put me on. I don't care."

"Okay, why don't you and Shawn take the top with me and Ben, Ann and Erik can play bottom, and we'll see how that goes for today."

"Okay, that's great." Jordan smiled and walked back to his snare thinking it wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be.  


~Nick 1:30pm  


"Okay," Tyler yelled to get everyone's attention. No one payed attention. He blew his whistle and Nick covered his ears. "B-flat concert scale." He counted off and Nick tried to get his ear to stop ringing.

He looked around the band room and his gaze fell on Kelcey. She had the most intent look on her face and she was only doing a simple quarter note warm-up. He started to wonder if he looked that serious when he was playing. He would have to remember to ask Kelcey later.

When it was finally Nick's turn to conduct he was nervous. No one knew that the song he was conducting was one he wrote. It started with a drum feature and slowly built up by sections. The brass came in first then low woodwinds, then the snare duet part. Then everyone was in then it faded to the snare solo. And even the person who helped him write the song didn't know that he wrote the solo especially for Kelcey.

He made eye contact with Kelcey then counted off and hoped for the best. He kept looking around the room, not about to focus on Kelcey, he didn't want to throw her concentration off. When it came time for the snare solo he couldn't look away from her. The last note from the snare rang out and Kelcey looked up and Nick's eyes locked with hers. She smiled and he nodded. He knew that she would be amazing the first time.  


~Kelcey 2:10pm  


Kelcey played the last few notes of the solo and looked up at Nick almost expecting the song to keep going. When he put his hands down she wondered why the song ended with a snare solo. She smiled up at Nick, hoping he approved of her solo. He nodded and she hoped that that meant she did well. She knew she missed a few notes, but it was the first time she had ever seen the music. Nick finally turned away from Kelcey and she had the funniest feeling that Tiffany might have been right about Nick. At least she hoped she was because all of the sudden she felt differently about him.

All through the last song, which Tyler conducted, she kept thinking of why it took her so long to see that she did like Nick. She met him when she was a freshman, but he was just her friend, her snare partner. She never really even thought it could have been more than that until last year when Tiffany kept making up reasons Kelcey should like Nick.

At three, when rehearsals were finally over, Kelcey ran over to talk to Tiffany.

"Tiff, we have to talk!" Kelcey yelled trying to pull her away from her seat and out of the vision of the drum majors, but Tiffany wouldn't move. "Fine, I'll meet you in the band hall."

Kelcey practically skipped out of the band hall, but stopped herself before it actually happened. She sat down on one of the chairs in the band room hoping Nick wouldn't walk out. She wasn't ready to see him yet. She had to think things through. What if he didn't even feel the same way.

"That was an awesome solo," a voice said next to Kelcey. She looked up and saw a tall brown hair guy that she recognized from the saxophone section.

"Thanks. I'm Kelcey Jensen."

"Josh Walker. Can I sit here?" He pointed to a chair next to Kelcey.

"Sure. So is this your first year here?" It felt weird for her to have such a normal conversation when she was dying to tell someone she liked Nick.

"Yeah, but I'm a junior."

"Don't you play sax?"

"Yeah, but I'm not that good."

"That's what everyone says. Believe it or not, I'm not that good either." Kelcey smiled thinking about her first year and how much she had improved, especially with Nick helping her.

"Yeah right. Didn't you sight read that solo?"

"Yeah, but still. I'm not that good. Nick, the drum major. He's an amazing percussionist. You should hear him play sometime."

"I'm sure I will."

Just then Tiffany walked out of the band room.

"Hey, Josh. It was great to talk to you, but I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you later."

Kelcey got up and practically dragged Tiffany down the hall so they could talk.  


~Josh 2:10pm  


Josh turned back to see who was playing the amazing snare solo and for a minute he was in awe that it was a girl. After he got over the shock he knew he had to meet her.

After rehearsal he paced the band hall, hoping that she would come out and he could talk to her. He knew that she had to leave sometime. He just hoped that he wouldn't miss her. She finally came out and it took him a few seconds to get enough courage to say anything to her. When she said that he played sax he almost couldn't believe that she had already noticed him. As she walked away after talking to him he kept thinking that he had to talk to her again and get to know her better.

~Kelcey 3:15pm  
  


"Who were you talking to?" Tiffany asked as Kelcey dragged her down the hall.

"Josh, something. That's not important. Guess what?"

"You finally realized that you like Nick." Kelcey's smile faded. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I don't know, but it happened after I played that snare solo. I don't know." Kelcey knew she wasn't making much sense, but she didn't care.

"You really like Nick?" Tiffany asked a little to loudly for Kelcey. She immediately put her hand over her friends mouth.

"Shh, not so loud."

"What? Don't you want him to know that you like him?"

"No." She uncovered Tiffany's mouth. "I mean not yet. I'm not even sure if he likes me back."

"Oh he does. Trust me." Tiffany smiled.

"You know something I don't know about Nick, don't you."

"Sorry. I'm sworn to secrecy."

"Oh fine. I'll get it out of you one way or another."

Kelcey said good-bye to Tiffany and actually skipped down the hall towards the band room. She turned the corner and saw some guys throwing an orange bouncy ball against a locker. She stop to watch then realized that one of the guys was Nick. He grabbed the ball and told someone to run down the hall. Then he jumped, turned around and threw the ball behind him. It bounced off the wall and only went about five feet. Nick shrugged and picked the ball up. When he stood up he notice Kelcey standing by the band room door.

"Hey Kel," Nick said. "Do you want to play?"

"No, I think I'll pass. Besides I need to practice."

"Okay, but you don't know what you're missing."

Kelcey just nodded slowly and went to get her snare.

She came back out of the band room with her snare at just the right time for the ball bounced off her snare and down the hall. Nick ran past her to get the ball. When he came back he told Kelcey to take a step away from the wall. Kelcey took a step away and look at Nick.

"Hold really still," Nick said looking down the hall.

"I'm going to die," Kelcey said softly.

Nick threw the ball and Kelcey saw it fly past her a few inches from her nose.

"One more time," Nick said when he got the ball back.

Kelcey stood still again and this time when Nick threw the ball it was about a foot away from her.

"That was better," Kelcey said starting to walk away.

"It was supposed to bounce over your head the first time."

"Right." Kelcey decided that she better get away while she still could. (A/N: This actually happened in my band hall and I couldn't leave it out. Only there was a lot more to it, and we actually ended up breaking a locker. Anyway back to the story.) 

Kelcey wandered around trying to find a good place to practice. She finally went outside and found some shade. She propped her music up and concentrated on memorizing it. Twenty minutes later she had the first song memorized. She stood up and stretch and looked around. She saw someone walk out of the music building. It took her a few minutes to realize it was Nick. He had a snare and two pairs of sticks.

"Ready for a drum off?" he asked grinning.

"I thought you forgot. Since your drum major and everything."

"Me, forget? Never. Besides we've been doing this for two years now, haven't we?"

Kelcey stopped to think. She remember the first day of band camp when he walked over to her and asked her if she wanted to have a drum off. Kelcey was so surprised she wasn't sure what to say. Before she could say anything Nick had played a rhythm on his snare. Kelcey played it back then added to it. After about five turns back and forth Kelcey got confused. Nick told her that she was by far the best freshman he had ever met on snare. After that it was tradition for them to have a drum off after the first day of band camp was over.

"Hey," Nick said waving his sticks in front of Kelcey's face. "Are you ready?"

"Let's go. Just so you know you better get ready to lose. I practiced this summer."

Nick laughed then counted off four beats. He played a two measure rhythm then looked at Kelcey. She looked him in the eye, played his two measures then added two of her own. Half an hour later Nick gave up.

"You're right, you win." Nick threw his sticks down in defeat.

"Loser buys sodas, remember?" Kelcey said taking off her snare and sitting on the grass. Nick sat down next to her.

"I'll have to get you one tomorrow. I didn't bring any cash today."

"Yeah, whatever. You better not forget, you haven't ever let me."

"I won't, don't worry." Nick stretch and laid down on his back.

Twenty minutes later Nick stood up.

"Sorry to run off, but I've got to get home." He offered Kelcey his hand. She took it and he pulled her up. They grabbed their snares and headed towards the music building.


	3. Dinner?

Chapter 3  
  
~Kelcey 7:45am

Kelcey purposely left early so Tyler couldn't yell at her again She walked into the band room at 7:55 and smiled smugly at Tyler. He just glared at her. Kelcey looked around, but didn't see Nick anywhere.

"Hey Kelcey," a voice said behind her. She looked behind her and saw Josh.

"Oh, hi Josh. How are you?" Kelcey put her stick bag down on a chair and turned around to face Josh.

"I'm alright. What about you?"

"I'm great. But I'm a weirdo and I actually like band camp." She shrugged.

"I can't say that I feel the same. Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I just don't like band that much."

"Don't worry it gets better as time goes on. At least it did for me."

"Thanks. I'll remember that." Josh smiled. "Well I better go."

"Okay, I'll see you later." Kelcey watched Josh walk away then tuned to grab her stick bag, but it was gone. She looked around, but no one was paying any attention to her.

~Nick 8:00am

When Nick saw that Kelcey put her sticks down he couldn't resist taking them. She always took his sticks last year if he left them laying around. Now he walked up behind Kelcey.

"Hey Kel," he said. She turned. "Hey are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just can't find my sticks."

"You of all people should know not to leave your stuff sitting out." Nick couldn't resist grinning, it was about time he got some pay back.

"Where are they?" Kelcey yelled shaking Nick's shoulders. He pulled away and walked over to the drum cabinet that was a few feet away. He opened a drawer and pulled out the bag.

"Maybe now you know how I felt," Nick said giving her her bag back.

"Yeah, I do. I'll try not to steal your bag anymore, or even your sticks."

"I'd appreciate that. Are you ready for another day of band camp?"

"Of course. I'm the one who actually likes this stuff."

"I'm not liking it as much, but it'll probably get better after school starts."

"Yeah, well, I hope so."

"Do you want to have another drum off today?"

"That would be breaking tradition."

"We don't have a tradition for the second day of camp."

"That's okay. Today is practice day, since you interrupted my practice yesterday."

"Hey, it was tradition that ruined your practice." Nick laughed.

"Okay, fine. But I really do need to practice."

"Okay. Well we better figure this out later. We need to get outside."

~Kelcey 4:15pm

Kelcey went into the band room after short nap and got her snare. She heard Nick practicing something on marimba in the drum room. She put her snare back down and quietly opened the door to the drum room. Nick looked up, then went right back to his music. Kelcey listened and applauded when he finished.

"Hey," Kelcey said walking over to see what music Nick was looking at. "What are you still doing here? Camp was over an hour ago."

"Yeah, I know. I was just working on this marimba piece I was writing."

"You wrote this?" Kelcey picked up the music, but Nick quickly grabbed it from her hand. "Hey!"

"Sorry, it's not done yet. But as soon as it's done, you'll be the first to see it."

"Thank you." Kelcey sat down on the only chair in the drum room.

"Any if you're nice to me I'll let you play the duet with me."

"It's going to be a duet?"

"Yeah. It's going to be awesome." Kelcey started laughing. "What's so funny."

"Tiffany told me that percussionists have the biggest egos, and I think you just proved her right, despite how long I argued with her, trying to convince her otherwise."

"Hey! It is going to be great. You just wait."

"Oh I will. Don't worry. But I've got to practice now. So maybe I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Okay see you then."

Kelcey got her snare again and headed out to the same spot she found yesterday.

~Nick 4:00pm

Nick put his mallets down and stretched. He looked at his watch and realized that he had been playing his piece for almost an hour. He thought about seeing if he could find Kelcey, but he knew that she wanted to practice today. He stretched again then started one more time. He had to figure out what the second part would be. Then he had to convince Kelcey to play it with him.

Nick was about finished with the song when he heard the door open. He turned quickly and realized it was Kelcey. He messed up the next few measures, but tried to act like he wanted it that way. When he ended he was surprised to hear Kelcey clapping. He smiled to himself before turning to face Kelcey.

When Kelcey left to practice he thought about asking her if he could practice with her, but chickened out at the last minute. He watched her leave and thought that she hesitate for just a minute before opening the door. Nick smiled to himself and got out some manuscript paper to work on the duet/second part. Seeing Kelcey seemed to inspire him and he wrote out about fifteen measures before putting his paper down and going off to find her.

~Nick 4:45pm

Nick found Kelcey laying down in the shade next to her snare. He watched her for a few minutes then softly kicked the bottom of her shoe. She jumped and Nick laughed. She glared at Nick then closed her eyes again.

"Hey," Nick said sitting down next to her. "I thought you were practicing."

"I was, but I'm taking a break." She sat up and stretched. "What are you doing?"

"Well I seem to remember that I owe you a drink from yesterday."

"That's right you do. So, where is it?"

"Not here. I was actually wondering if you wanted to get some dinner."

"Um sure. But, I still have a lot to memorize."

"That's fine. We can drive in separate cars, because I've got to get home."

"Okay. Well let me put my snare away."

"Okay, let's go then." Nick stood up and offered his hand to Kelcey. He pulled her up and grabbed her snare.

"You don't have to take that."

"It's alright." They both waked back to the music building and then headed to their separate cars.

~Kelcey 5:00pm

Kelcey followed Nick out of the parking lot wondering why all of the sudden he decides that they need to get dinner. She shrugged and turned up her radio. Kelcey got stuck at a light and watched Nick get lost in all the traffic. She hoped he would realize that she had no idea where they were going and pull over to wait for her.

Kelcey made it thorough the light but realized that something had happened ahead of her. Traffic was backed up and there weren't any cars going through the intersection. Kelcey was so far away it was hard to see what was happening. She tried to see if Nick was somewhere ahead of her, but she couldn't see his little white truck anywhere. Traffic was finally moving, but slowly, everyone was turning off the main road. After driving about fifteen feet ahead Kelcey had to stop again. Ths time she could see what had happened. There was a car off to the side of the road with a smashed front end, an suv with the side smashed in and a white truck on it's side. 

Kelcey realized she wasn't breathing. She let out a long breath and tried to see if it was Nick's truck, but all she could see was the bottom of the truck. She heard honking and realized that people were waiting for her to move. She turned off on the side street and parked her car. She sat in her car and tried not to cry. It couldn't be Nick, there was no way it could be him. She put her hands to her face and tried to relax, but her heart was breathing so fast. Someone, or something tapped on her window, she jumped and looked up not knowing what to expect.

~Nick 5:10pm

Nick knew he shouldn't have gone through the yellow light, but there was no way he could stop. He got stopped at the next light and decided that he better pullover so Kelcey could find him again. Nick looked down to change the station on his radio, but cars started honking at him. He quickly looked up and saw that the light was green. He started to go through the intersection, but quickly slammed on his brakes when he saw an suv that he knew was going to run the light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's kind of a cliffhanger, sorry. I've got to have something to keep everyone interested.

*Serene Hope- Thanks for the review. And you're right it is going to be more than a triangle. And I'm actually a sax player too, but I guess I have a secret desire to become a percussionist. Anyway, thanks for the review, I'm glad you like it.


	4. Where's Nick?

~Nick 5:20pm

Nick could hear sirens, but he wasn't sure what was going on. All he knew was that he had just watched four cars wreck right in front of him, but he wasn't really sure what had happened. All he knew was that he had to find Kelcey. Nick drove a ways down the road and then parked his car. He knew Kelcey should be coming by soon, so he walked back to the intersection. That was when he realized that a truck just like his was involved in the accident. He hoped that he would be able to find Kelcey before she could see too much of what happened.

About five minutes later he saw Kelcey turn right to get off the road, but he also saw that she hesitated for a long time before she finally turned. He ran across the intersection and tried to see where she was going, he was glad she was stopping. He ran over and tapped on her window.

Nick couldn't tell if the look on her face was of shock or relief, maybe a mix between the two. He opened her door and she practically jumped out and threw her arms around him. Nick responded the same way.

"Nick," Kelcey said after a few seconds.

"It's okay Kel," Nick said holding her tightly. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"No," Kelcey said and Nick thought that he heard her crying, but he didn't try to see, he just let her cry.

~Kelcey 5:30pm

When Kelcey looked up and saw Nick she couldn't believe it at first. She was sure that that was his truck. She didn't even care what Nick thought when she hugged him, she was so happy he was okay. She said his name, almost like she was making sure it was really him, ans not her mind playing tricks on her.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked her.

"No," Kelcey said, and immediately started crying. She felt so stupid, but she couldn't help it. She was glad Nick didn't try to make her feel better, it was enough for him to be hugging her. A few seconds later she slowly moved away from Nick, but he didn't seem so eager to let her go.

"Are you going to be okay?" Nick asked looking at Kelcey.

"I think so. Sorry for crying."

"Don't be sorry." He grabbed her hands. "Let's get out of here."

Kelcey nodded. And slowly got into her car. Nick told her that he would meet her back in the band hall.

"I have to talk to the police. Everything happened right in front of me."

"Okay. I'll see you later then."

Kelcey cautiously drove back to the university, taking as many side streets as possible. It took her ten minutes longer to get to the university than if she would have stayed on the main road, but she wasn't taking any chances. She got out of her car and walked to the band hall. She sat down and started shaking, realizing that Nick could have been in that mess if it happened right in front of him. She laid down on the chairs and tried not to cry again. She closed her eyes and thought about how lucky Nick was.

~Nick 6:00pm

Nick walked down the hall half expecting Kelcey to have left already, but he saw her sleeping on the chairs at the end of the hall. He quietly walked down to where she was and sat down by her.

"Kel," he whispered. She didn't even move. "Kel," he said a little louder. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times.

"Nick!" Kelcey said sitting up. "What time is it?"

Nick looked at his watch. "It's 6:00. Why?"

"I was supposed to be home at six, but I don't think I even want to think about driving. I need to call my parents."

Nick pulled out his cell phone and handed it to Kelcey. She took it and called her parents, after she said hello she walked down the hall and away from Nick. Nick waited for her to come back, wondering how much he should tell her about the wreck. If he wouldn't have been changing the stations he would probably be in the hospital right now, if not something worse. Kelcey came back down the hall and handed Nick his cell phone, then sat down next to him.

"So," Kelcey said looking down at the floor. "What happened?"

"I honestly don't know. I stopped at the light and looked down the change the station on my radio. Then people were honking so I looked up and noticed the light was green. I started to go, then slammed on my breaks when I realized that the guy in the suv was going to run the light." Nick decided to tell her everything, since it wouldn't do any good to lie to her.

"It was so scary to see that truck. I really thought it was you."

"I know," Nick said putting his arm around Kelcey, she leaned against him. The sat in silence for about five minutes. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I will. Especially since you're okay." Kelcey rested her head on Nick's shoulder and Nick put his other arm around Kelcey. "I don't know what I would have done if that was you're truck."

Nick didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what to say, but he knew that he would have felt the same if he was in her place.

"When do you need to be home?" Nick said trying to change the topic.

"Whenever. My parents weren't even home. I left a message on the answering machine."

"Oh. So do you still want to get dinner?"

"As long as we don't have to drive anywhere."

"Do you want to walk to get something?" Kelcey nodded and sat up.

~Kelcey 6:45pm

As they were walking to get food Kelcey kept wondering what Nick was thinking. Kelcey wasn't sure if Nick thought that she wanted sympathy or to be around him. She hoped he though it was the last part. They were both being so quiet Kelcey didn't want to say anything and interrupt whatever Nick was thinking, good or bad.

They finally got to the pizza place and saw a few other people from band there. They ordered their pizza and went over to sit with everyone else. Kelcey was glad the Tiffany was among those at the table. Tyler was there too, and so was Josh and Ashley, who was Josh's sister. Nick and Kelcey ended sitting next to each other, but neither one said much, which was unusual for Nick.

"Hey are you two okay?" Tyler asked looking at Nick.

"Yeah. I guess." Nick said and looked over at Kelcey.

"Yeah," Kelcey said. "We're fine."

While everyone was waiting for their pizza Nick suddenly started taking. Kelcey looked at him wondering what got him in the mood to talk all of the sudden.

"So, how are you guys liking marching band so far?" Nick asked looking around the table.

"It stinks, Ashley said glaring at Josh, then Tyler.

"Okay," Nick said slowly. "Why?"

"Because it messes up my hair and I have to deal with my brother every other day now."

"What about you Josh?" Nick asked turning to Josh.

Josh looked around the table and stopped at Kelcey. "It's alright I guess. I'm enjoying it so far."

"That's good." Nick looked at Kelcey. "What about you Kel?"

"Well," Kelcey started. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone. "It's alright. It's not quite the same as last year though. I kind of miss the friendly competition we had."

"Oh, we'll still have competition, don't worry about that."

"Okay, then I'm really enjoying it. I can't wait until the first game."

"Me either," Tyler said taking over the conversation. "It's going to be so much better now that I don't have to deal with the cocky trumpet section." (A/N: I really don't hate the trumpet section and I'll explain this comment later in the story.)

"Don't forget you were one of those cocky trumpet players last year," Tiffany said.

"Whatever. You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know exactly what I'm taking about. I had to live with you as a cocky trumpet player. Actually I think I liked you better as the cocky trumpet player." Everyone laughed and Tyler looked like he wasn't sure what to say.

When the pizza finally cam Kelcey was able to forget about what had happened earlier, at least for a while. And at one point in time she actually joined the sing along to the radio. By the time she and Nick left they were both laughing. They waked almost all the way back to the university laughing.

"So," Nick said as they waked into the band room. "Are you going to be okay driving home?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Will you be okay?" Nick nodded. "Okay. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Nic nodded and said good bye to Kelcey. Kelcey watched him walk out the door then grabbed her sticks and music and went out to her car.

~Nick 11:30pm

Nick had a hard time falling asleep as soon as he would close his eyes he would see the accident. Then he would see Kelcey crying. He woke up from a nightmare where it was Kelcey that got into the wreck. He sat up and tried to forget about what had happened. He looked over at his clock and saw that it was almost two in the morning. He hoped Kelcey was able to sleep. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something happy, like last night at the pizza place with Kelcey laughing and them both forgetting what had happened. Nick wasn't even sure why he brought it up as they were leaving. He wished he could have just left it alone.

~Kelcey 4:00am

Kelcey woke up with a start, she tried to forget the nightmare where Nick was the one in the truck. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. It was going to be a long day. She tried to go back to sleep, but kept seeing Nick in the accident.

~Kelcey 7:00am

Kelcey had never been so happy to see sunlight in her life. She was glad that she could escape from the nightmares. She quickly got out of bed and tried to get excited about going to band camp. She got in the shower and when she got out she knew she was going to be later getting to the university. She hoped Tyler wouldn't be too mad as she started her car and pulled out of the drive way.

~Nick 7:15am

Nick looked over at what was making the terrible beeping noise and found out it was his alarm clock. He waved his arm in the general direction of the clock and knocked in on the floor where it finally stopped beeping. Nick rolled over and covered his face with pillow and went back to bed. When he looked at the clock again it was almost eight. He jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. He splashed some water on his face, hoping it would wake him up. He grabbed his keys and ran out the door, hoping he wouldn't be too late.

~Kelcey 815am

"Tyler," Kelcey said walking over to Tyler. "Do you know where Nick is?"

"No," Tyler said. "I call his house earlier but no one answered."

"Okay, thanks." Kelcey walked away from Tyler thinking the worst. She went to find Tiffany she had to tell someone about what happened yesterday.


	5. A Near Romance

~Kelcey 8:30am

"Wow," Tiffany said when Kelcey finished telling her what happened yesterday. "Is that why you two were acting so weird yesterday?" Kelcey nodded. "So, what are you going to do?"

"About what?" Kelcey asked looking over at the door for the thousandth time hoping Nick would walk in.

"About everything. I mean, can you even imagine how Nick feels?"

"I guess I never really thought about it. I guess I would be pretty shaken up if I watched a wreck happen right in front of me. What should I do?"

"Talk to him, I don't know." Tiffany looked away.

"Do you think he's okay?" Kelcey asked, hoping he was.

"I'm sure he's fine." Tiffany nodded as if she was trying to convince herself.

Kelcey leaned against the wall and hoped that Nick was okay, she was about to say something to Tiffany but saw Nick walk in the band room. She ran over to Nick, not even bothering to tell Tiffany where, or what she was doing.

"Nick!" Kelcey yelled from across the room. Nick looked over at Kelcey and a relived smile seemed to come over his face.

"Hey Kel," he said smiling again. "Are you okay?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I fine. I just slept in, that's all." Kelcey nodded and let Nick and Tyler talk. Five minutes later Tyler was telling everyone to get their stuff so they could go outside.

~Nick 8:35am

When Nick saw Kelcey running over to him he realized how worried she must have been, he almost hugged her, but decided that it wouldn't be a good idea, especially with Tyler waiting impatiently for him.

After talking to Kelcey Tyler yelled at him and told him he was setting a bad example. Nick didn't try to apologize, or even explain why he was late. He knew Tyler didn't want excuses. Tyler finally stopped yelling at Nick and started yelling at the band. When they finally got to the practice field Tyler had already forgotten about Nick being late. It seemed like he was too busy finding everyone's faults as they marched.

When the band broke up for sectionals for marching technique Nick wandered over to the snare line and watched Kelcey delegate and direct. For a minute she didn't seem to realize that he was watching her, but when he noticed she seemed to get flustered, Nick slowly walked away smiling to himself. When Nick had walked around to every section he called everyone back so they could march their new sets for the song Nick was conducting. A lot of freshmen gave him confused looks, and some upperclassmen laughed as they got to their spots. Nick watched Kelcey help some of the trumpet players near her find their spots. Nick forgot how hard it was when people had never seen drill charts before.

~Kelcey 11:45am

Before Kelcey even knew it it was time for lunch. As she was walking back to the band room Tiffany caught up with her.

"Hey," Kelcey said. "So, do you want to go somewhere for lunch today?"

"What about Nick?" Tiffany asked. Kelcey looked back and saw that Nick was a few feet behind them.

"Hey Nick," Kelcey yelled over her shoulder. "Wanna go to lunch with us?"

"Sure, sounds good to me." Nick caught up to the two girls and walked between them.

They debated on where to go and finally decided to get some hamburgers. They got their food and ate at the school, by the pond. There wasn't much conversation while they were eating. When Tiffany got done eating she made what seemed to be a lame excuse and left.

"What was that all about?" Nick asked laughing.

Kelcey shrugged. "I told her what happened yesterday," she finally said slowly.

"Why?" Nick asked, but he wasn't mad, Kelcey thought he might be.

"I don't know. When you were late I was worried and I had to tell someone, but I couldn't tell Tyler, he would be mad, so the only logical choice was Tiffany, she's my best friend and I was so worried about you, I had the worst dream-"

"Kel," Nick said interrupting her. "Slow down, you're becoming hysterical."

"Sorry, but I was worried about you." She took a deep breath and realized that she just said everything in one breath.

"Why were you so worried about me?" Nick asked looking at Kelcey.

"I don't know. I just was. After everything that happened, I don't know."

Nick nodded and turned to watch some ducks swimming over to the two of them.

~Nick 12:00pm

"Kel," Nick said tossing some of his uneaten hamburger bun to the ducks. Kelcey turned to look at him. "Don't worry about what happened. I'm okay and you are too."

"I know, but still. What if something had happened to you?"

"It didn't. I'm fine." Nick pulled some gum out of his pocket and offered some to Kelcey.

Kelcey took the gum and looked away from Nick. Nick moved closer to her and his arm brushed hers. She turned again to look at him. Then looked away quickly.

"Kel," Nick said waiting until she turned to look at him. "What's bothering you?"

Kelcey dropped her head and put her hands up to her face. "I don't know," she mumbled under her hands.

"Kel," Nick said gently. "Please tell me."

She dropped her hands and looked up at him. "I was afraid that the reason you were late this morning was because you were in..."

"A wreck." Nick finished the sentence for her after she drifted off. She nodded. "Are you really that worried about me?"

"Yes. Nick I couldn't fall asleep last night. Every time I tried to fall asleep I would see you in that truck." Nick saw Kelcey quickly wiping away tears. He smiled to himself, wondering if Tiffany was right when she told him that Kelcey has had a crush on his since her freshman year. "What are you smiling about?"

Nick laughed and looked into Kelcey eyes. "You." Kelcey quickly turned her head away. Nick put his hand under her chin and gently turned it back. He leaned forward to kiss her but heard someone call his name. He pulled away and dropped his hand. He looked up and saw Tyler walk around the hill.

"Nick!" Tyler yelled. "Come on, lunch was over ten minutes ago." Tyler walke off and Nick looked back to Kelcey. She quickly grabbed her stuff and walked away from Nick. Nick grabbed the bag of garbage and ran to catch up to Kelcey.

"Kel," Nick said. "Sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." Kelcey said shrugging her shoulders. They got to the band room with out saying another word to each other.

~Kelcey 1:00pm

"Kelcey?" Kelcey looked up and saw that Jordan was waving his drum sticks in front of her face.

"Sorry. What is it?" Kelcey had been trying to figure out what Nick was doing earlier. It seemed like he wanted to kiss her, but maybe he just felt sorry for her. Kelcey realized that she didn't hear what Jordan asked her again. "Sorry, one more time Jordan. I'm having a bad day right now."

"I just asked you who you wanted to play the duet today."

"Oh, umm. Let's have it the same as last time. I haven't decided who's doing what yet." Jordan nodded and walked off to tell everyone else what was going on.

Kelcey looked up at Nick, but he wasn't looking in her direction. She wanted to know what he was thinking. She hoped that what happened earlier wasn't just him taking pity on her. She hoped he really liked her, just then Nick turned to look at her and she looked away. When she looked back he was talking to a flute player.

Nick got up to conduct his song and Kelcey was glad she didn't have time to memorize all of her music last night, it would give her a reason to stay buried in her music and not have to look up much. Not that she didn't want to look at Nick, she was just confused by everything that was going on.

Music rehearsal seemed to drag on to Kelcey she wanted to talk to Tiffany, she would know what to do, or at least have some good advice. Kelcey looked up and realized that Nick had started the song. She looked back at her music and realized that she had no idea where she should be playing. She looked up at Nick and saw him mouth something to her, she realized it was twenty five. She looked down at her music then back at him. He gave a big down beat and Kelcey started playing. She got to her solo and was glad she at least managed to memorize that. She looked at Nick the whole time she was playing. He had a grin on his face, then she realized that everyone else was watching her too. She finished the solo and everyone clapped. Kelcey blushed and noticed that Nick was laughing. She hoped he wasn't laughing because of her, but figured he was. She smiled slowly and sat down so everyone couldn't keep staring at her.

After Tyler conducted his piece everyone went off to sectionals. Kelcey slowly got up and lead everyone outside. If they had to have sectionals they could at least go where they didn't have to ruin their hearing.

"Have you guys memorized anything yet?" Kelcey asked after they got outside. Everyone but Jordan shook their heads. "What have you memorized Jordan?"

"Just the first song. I'm going to work on the rest tonight."

Kelcey nodded. "Okay, why don't we work on memorizing the last song, since none of us have that one yet."

Everyone looked for music then Kelcey counted them off. They played the song through and she started it again. After an hour they had the first half of the song memorized. Kelcey told them all that they could leave a few minutes early as long as they didn't tell Tyler, or run into him when they went back in the band room.

Kelcey looked at the second piece of music then started playing her solo from memory.

~Nick 2:55pm

Nick watched Kelcey play her solo and slowly walked up behind her. She must have seen him because she stopped playing and spun around.

"Nick!" she yelled. "You scared me half to death."

"I'll try harder next time," Nick said laughing. He wasn't sure what was going on since he tried to kiss her earlier. He sat down on the grass and watched her play her solo again. She finished her solo, put her snare down and sat next to Nick.

"So," Kelcey said slowly. "How did that sound?"

"What?" Nick asked surprised at her question he was afraid she was going to ask about what happened earlier. "Uh, it sounded really good." Kelcey started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"The look on your face. You thought I was going to ask you something about what happened at lunch, didn't you."

"Yeah, I did. But, as long as we're on that subject-"

"We're not," Kelcey said quickly interrupting Nick. "Look, I don't know what almost happened earlier, but let's not worry about it. Sorry, that was rude. Never mind."

"Kelcey, I really care about you. I want to make sure you're okay."

"I am. I promise. It just scared me yesterday. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

"Nothing's going to happen. I promise. Now, how about you play that solo again."

A/N: It's a bad ending, sorry. So what do you think? Let me know. I promise that this will turn into a triangle in the next chapter. At least it should. Anyway, please review. Thanks!!


End file.
